Rodney A. Hawes Jr. (born 1939) is an American business executive, investor, and philanthropist. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of Life Re Corporation, a

reinsurance Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company to insulate itself (at least in part) from the risk of a major claims event. With reinsurance, the company passes on ("cedes") some part of its own insu ...

corporation traded on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

, from 1992 until its 1998 merger with Swiss Re. He has made large charitable contributions to the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, where Hawes Hall was named in his honor.

Early life

Rodney A. Hawes Jr. was born in 1939 and grew up in

Marsing, Idaho Marsing is a city in Owyhee County, Idaho. The population was 1,031 at the time of the 2010 census. It is part of the Boise metropolitan area. Geography Marsing is located at (43.545484, -116.807811), at an elevation of above sea level. The cit ...

, near Boise. His father was a newspaper editor. His mother was a schoolteacher. Hawes graduated from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. He received a master in business administration from the

in 1969, where he was a

Baker Scholar Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

Career

Prior to his MBA, Hawes worked for the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (now

AXA Axa S.A. (styled as ''AXA'' or GIG in the Middle East) is a French multinational insurance company. The head office is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. It also provides investment management and other financial services. The Ax ...

) for five years. Hawes founded Insurance Investment Associates, a

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

advisory firm for the insurance industry, in 1972. With coworkers, Hawes acquired the Life Re Corporation, a

corporation headquartered in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, in 1988. Hawes served as its chairman and chief executive officer. The corporation was listed on the

in 1992. It merged with Swiss Re in 1998. Hawes served on the board of directors of

W. R. Berkley Corporation W. R. Berkley Corporation is a commercial lines property & casualty insurance holding company organized in Delaware and based in Greenwich, Connecticut. The company operates commercial insurance businesses in the United Kingdom, Continental Euro ...

Philanthropy

Hawes made a large donation to the Harvard Business School for the construction of Hawes Hall, named in his honor and completed in 2002. He also endowed the Beverly & Rodney Hawes Jr. Endowed Scholarship at Charter Oak State College. Hawes has served on the National Advisory Council of the Marriott School of Management at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

since 1997.

Personal life

Hawes is married to Beverly. They have six children. Hawes was raised as a Presbyterian. He converted to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) in 1966.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawes, Rodney A. Jr. Living people People from Owyhee County, Idaho Stanford University alumni Harvard Business School alumni American businesspeople in insurance American company founders American chairpersons of corporations American chief executives American corporate directors American philanthropists American Latter Day Saints 1938 births